UP FROM THE SLIME
Sir,-Replying to critics in January 21 issue: G.H.D.. sets himself up as an authority competent:,to decide who is, or_is_not, a Christian; this is merely teligious arrogance. It is clear that Christian virtues are, as du Nouy says, the consequence of the laws of evolution, for without the evolution of the human brain Christian concepts and conduct could not have occurred. My reply to "Awake" has already dealt with other points in G.H.D.’s letter. "Naturalist" suggests that the views I have quoted are quite old-fashioned and outmoded. J. B. S. Haldane and Julian Huxley, both eminent modern scientists, in Animal, ublished 1927, fifth* sakeh: foaht "The frog in the tadpole stage has gills, and even the embryos of fowls and men possess gill slits. Both frog and man, though tailless when adult, possess tails when young." Bishop Barnes in his Scientific Theory and Religion, approvingly quotes William James: "Eight hundred million years ago the ancestor of the modern leader of thought was a worm in the sea mud." Some people indignantly declare that the évolutionary theory is derogatory to man’s dignity. To me it is not a theory of the "descent" of man, but a story about his marvellous asrent. In Adam’s Ancestors the notable Scientist L. S. B. Leakey says (1954): "The study of human evolution is still in its infancy. . . During the last ten yeats or so, a vast amount of new evidence has come to light, and there is every reason to believe that we shall continue to get more material. Inevitably this means that we must constantly review and fevise our ideas, abandoning the conceptions of human evolution held by some of our predecessors, and being prepated to alter our own ideas as new facts emerge." This sustains du Nouy’s idea that the scientist can reasonably contemplate "an evolution of evolutions." The scientist is always willing to change his ideas or theories as new evidence comes to light. The man of God is unwilling to change his ideas, for to him, God and his works are the same yesterday, today and forever. He clings stubbornly to this, comforting himself with abstract phfases that have no meaning.
J. MALTON
MURRAY
(Oamaru).
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19550211.2.12.1
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 811, 11 February 1955, Page 5
Word count
Tapeke kupu
367UP FROM THE SLIME New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 811, 11 February 1955, Page 5
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Material in this publication is protected by copyright.
Are Media Limited has granted permission to the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa to develop and maintain this content online. You can search, browse, print and download for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Are Media Limited for any other use.
Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
Log in